Drakensang: TRoT - Review @ Armchair Empire

March 12th, 2011, 04:13

I haven't linked the Armchair Empire for years but they've kicked up a Drakensang: The River of Time review, which is a nice change from all the Dragon Age 2 stuff. The score is 7/10 and the intro explains their view:

Here's an RPG that slipped onto the market without much fan fair. Although it's not all that surprising, given the sordid history of the game's developer who almost went under recently, and has since made a heavy shift towards browser games. In any case, what we have here is a prequel to the well-received Drakensang. The River of Time provides an entertain, albeit very traditional, adventure in a fantasy setting with some solid tactical battles making for a decent game. What holds it back from being truly great, however, is the game's lack of polish thanks to poor animation, choppy frame rates, and some sub-standard voice acting.

Lack of polish? Choppy framerates? I've played both this game and the original on a 3-year old machine and was actually very impressed by the speed in wich the world is rendered. Also, I found the scenes very beautifully designed. A lot of eye for detail in cities and along riverbanks etc.

Now that I played the game I can comment. It was ok; but I never really got into it. In a very crude way it reminded me a little of storm of zehir but much better done.
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I didn't have any of the issues mentioned in the blurb above; 'cept the voice acting which was quite horrible in english - i hear it is much better in german.
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I actually preferred the first game a bit; as this one never really did grab me. Also given the compaigns the game supply there is really only one bucket for the main character (I'm glad I chose wisely but I almost went with another type which woudl have been a huge mistake) (obviously i'm not providing details that might spoil for those who have not played).
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I think I would score the game somewhere between 6 and 7; not because there is a flaw persey; just because at the end of the day it never really grab me. I never got excited as the game advanced; not real climax or 'wow' moment.

Originally Posted by aries100
PS: Does any of you know if the Dutch version has English manual and English speak and subtitles. It is for me, I'm asking on behalf of one of the members of Gameboomers.
Here's the thread: http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubb…tml#Post706608

I'm 99% sure about this because the Dutch usually get UK versions. If you need confirmation you should post in other recent DraSa:TRoT threads too.

All digital download retailers that offer this (GamersGate, Steam and Amazon) have it region-locked to North America only. I don't understand it either, but I don't understand anything about this game's international release.

Originally Posted by aries100
PS: Does any of you know if the Dutch version has English manual and English speak and subtitles. It is for me, I'm asking on behalf of one of the members of Gameboomers.

The Dutch version is a full English-language release: English box, English manual (90 pages), English game. It is bizarre that they translated and printed the manuals yet never released this retail version outside of the Benelux.

Originally Posted by aries100
I don't understand why it isn't available in my region as I live in Denmark, and the website is - Swedish. To you think that this product, Drakensang, could be available in the UK.

Digital Download retailers are not responsible for region release, though some are lazier at it than others (I'm looking at you, Direct2Drive). The whole idea of region locking as well as staggered releasing is archaic and I have no idea why publishers cling to it. It's stupid.

Also, the game is not available in the UK. The mind boggles at this, but it's true. They can order it retail from a Benelux webshop, but that's it.

All digital download retailers that offer this (GamersGate, Steam and Amazon) have it region-locked to North America only. I don't understand it either, but I don't understand anything about this game's international release.

Originally Posted by Zerotown
Lack of polish? Choppy framerates? I've played both this game and the original on a 3-year old machine and was actually very impressed by the speed in wich the world is rendered. Also, I found the scenes very beautifully designed. A lot of eye for detail in cities and along riverbanks etc.

I had exactly the same thought.

I can only image that the reviewer had the game's screen resolution set as different from his desktop screen resolution.

Plus, the game seems to have problems with SLI and/or its AMD equivalent.

Edit : I'm currently reading through it, and it sounds much more positive than the snipped might imply, imho.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

I tend to agree. I could never make out a distinct publishing "system" behind it.

And because of the total lack of resonable deductions to his, the only explanation I have for this mess is this : No-one wants to publish it.
Either that, or dtp wants too much money for selling the national publishing rights.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by Brother None
The Dutch version is a full English-language release: English box, English manual (90 pages), English game. It is bizarre that they translated and printed the manuals yet never released this retail version outside of the Benelux.

It's bizarre and very frustrating. I was hoping to enventually be able to get a retail copy of this game without having to order it from the Netherlands.